Sparkling piano duo

The final celebrity concert of the Autumn Term was given by YMS alumnus (and professor of piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama) Charles Owen and his duo partner Katya Apekisheva (also on the staff of YMS from 1999-2000).

Charles told the audience how he had first met Katya on an exchange visit between YMS and the Gnessin School in Moscow, when he was 15 and she was just 11. Their friendship and close connection was clearly evident in everything they played, from the Rachmaninov Suite (Fantaisie-tableaux) and Symphonic Dances, to a minimalist piece arranged for them just this year by Nico Muhly, and from Ravel's Rapsodie Espagnole to Lutoslawski's Variations on a theme by Paganini.

It was a hugely enjoyable evening, as the thunderous applause of the Menuhin Hall audience, bore witness.